Powell's Q&A: Writing Wedding Toasts, and Guilty Pleasures

by Ada CalhounMay 22, 2017

Powell's.com ran a Q&A about the book that was really fun to do. Here's a sample question, but you can read the whole thing here.

What does your writing workspace look like?

It looks like a screen, usually with coffee nearby. I have a MacBook that I work at on my couch at home or carry around the city in my purse. I work all over NYC, often at branches of the New York Public Library. (I recently wrote an online story for the New Yorker about my affection for the somewhat scuzzy Mid-Manhattan Library.) Sometimes I’ll work at bars that are open during the day, like the South Fourth Bar and Grill in Williamsburg, or, when I’m feeling fancy, the Society Library on the Upper East Side. Or airports. Or train stations. Or some random Midtown Starbucks. Or in bed. Wherever I am, I typically put in headphones and listen to the Replacements and might as well be anywhere. Oh, also I talk in Wedding Toasts about becoming a homeowner; one of the first things I did was to turn a shed in the backyard into a makeshift office. Here’s a photo of that. I love it, but it still smells a little like a chicken coop.